And Zelena is?
by Brokenhappyeverafter
Summary: Henry comes back from the enchanted forest after being away for 15 years. He tries to piece together what has become of his family, while hiding some secrets of his own. WARNING: CHARACTER DEATHS


Henry passed through the old metal gate and up the pathway to the mansion. The sight of it nearly brought him to tears, it had been 15 years since he had last seen his childhood home. He took a breath and rapped smartly on the door, wondering if his mother would even recognise him. He was no longer the lanky teenager he'd been when he left. He was taller and broader, his shoulders and arms were now packed with muscle. His hair was a tone lighter, bleached by the constant sunlight of the enchanted forest.

The door opened but it wasn't Regina. A teenage girl stood there, pale, with bright blue eyes and red hair that fell to her waist in waves.

"Can I help you?" Her piercing eyes slid up him, appraising and dismissing him in an instant.

"I'm- um," he faltered, uncertainly. Could Regina have moved? He doubted it. She had loved this house. "Is Regina Mills here?"

She stared at him for a second before nodding. "She's in her study. I'll get her."

She turned but he found himself blurting out another question, needing the answer. "Do you live here?"

The girl turned back to him. "No. I broke in." She smiled sweetly, her voice dripping with sarcasm, and walked up the stairs, disappearing from view.

There was a long minute of awkward silence as henry stood on the doorstep, staring up the stairs before a woman finally appeared in a doorway. Regina. But not he how remembered her. She looked older. He hadn't expected that somehow. There were a few more lines on her face and her hair was long and flecked with silver strands. She smiled at him absently as she approached the stairs and he felt his heart skip a beat. She didn't know him. She took another few steps and he opened his mouth to say something, to apologise perhaps, for being gone so long. But before he could say anything she looked up at him again and her eyes seemed to mute him. She stared at him in silence for a long moment, taking in his face, his almost blonde hair, the scar he had gained in his first year gone, but also his strong chin, just like Emma's and his eyes. Regina could never forget those eyes.

"Henry?" Her voice was uncertain, as if she wouldn't let herself believe in.

He tried to say something but his words caught in his throat. He just nodded. Regina ran down the stairs and wrapped her arms around him. Henry closed his eyes and instantly felt the tears prickling his eyes.

"Henry," Regina was crying, holding him tightly. There had been times when he wondered if he would ever make it back home and holding his mother again was earth shattering.

He finally pulled away after a long moment and looked at her. "Mom."

She pulled back enough to look at him, not letting go. She raised one hand and rubbed the mascara smudged on her cheek. "You ruined my make up." She joked accusingly. He half laughed.

For a second they just stood together, overwhelmed. Finally, Regina seemed to notice that they were both still standing in the open doorway. She pulled Henry inside and closed the door and they walked into the kitchen together.

"New kitchen." Henry commented, looking at the marble countertops. "Looks nice."

"New?" Regina frowned for a second. "Oh, well, sort of. It was done maybe five years ago now."

He bit his lip and nodded, seeing and picking up a photo of a couple holding a toddler. The baby was blonde, wearing a tiny denim jacket and beaming at the camera excitedly. The man had dark hair, growing long enough to cover one eye and was smiling lovingly at the woman and the woman was...

"Mom?"

Regina looked at the photo in Henry's hand. "Yes, that's Emma and Hook. They left Storybrooke after they had Charlotte, they wanted to raise her in the city."

Henry nodded again and put down the photo of the perfect little family smiling away. He had hoped to see Emma but it seems like she didn't wait for him. It seems like no one waited for him. Somehow he had forgotten that while he was away, making his own story, time moved on. And so did everyone else.

He looked up and found Regina staring at him. "What?"

"You've changed a lot." She sighed and smiled.

"So have you." He smiled sadly. Things were different, harder than he had thought they were going to be. "So, that girl..."

He trailed off, hoping Regina would fill in the gaps.

"Oh yeah," Regina opened a cupboard and got out two mugs, putting on the kettle. "We don't really talk about that."

He frowned. Had Regina adopted the girl? Was he really that easily replaced? "Why?"

Regina just shook her head and made the tea. She clearly wouldn't give anymore answers which was strange and totally unlike his mother. She was hiding something. He would have to let it go for now.

"So what happened? Where did you go?" Regina looked at him expectantly, wanting his story. Henry had some secrets of his own, his story hadn't been simple since leaving town.

"Well. I went to the enchanted forest. I uh- met someone."

Regina tilted her head, not interrupting but clearly wanting all the details. She wasn't getting them.

"She stayed behind, in the enchanted forest." Henry bit his lip hard.

Regina frowned, confused. They weren't being open with each other. Everything had changed. She sighed and looked at her watch.

"Oh shit, I need to drop something off at the school for Mary Margret, I'm late." She looked at him hesitantly, "I could call her...?"

"It's fine." Henry forced a smile. "I'll wait here if that's okay."

"Sure." She nodded and grabbed her bag, heading for the front door. She felt a pit in her stomach that she couldn't explain.

Henry watched her leave and leaned against the new countertop. The new counter top that wasn't really new. He looked at the picture of Emma and Hook with their daughter. It had been his choice to leave, to stay away so long but he had never regretted it more than this moment.

A noise from the hall brought him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the girl standing there, watching him.

"Who are you?" She frowned at him suspiciously.

"I'm Henry, Regina's son. Who are you?"

She looked surprised. "You're Henry? The Henry?" She smiled suddenly, and came closer, looking at ease now. "I'm Robyn!"

It took him a moment to think who she must be. "Robyn? Zelena's daughter?"

She nodded, her smile faltering a fraction. He stood and after a long moment, pulled her into a hug. "The last time I saw you, you were just a baby."

"Yeah well, that's what happens when you leave for fifteen years."

He almost winced, that was painfully true. Instead he found himself laughing. Robyn looked at him like he'd lost his mind before starting to giggle herself.

"Oh god. Of course. I left for fifteen years, of course you grew up." He sighed and sat down hard. "So, you live here? With your mom?"

"No." Robyn's head dipped slightly to the left and her eyes dropped to the floor. "Just me and Regina."

Henry frowned. This was getting stranger and stranger by the second. "So Zelena is...?"

"Dead."


End file.
